A Roman in Egypt very unfortunately killed a consecrated1 cat, and the infuriated people punished this sacrilege by tearing him to pieces. If this Roman had been carried before the tribunal, and the judges had possessed2 common sense, he would have been condemned3 to ask pardon of the Egyptians and the cats, and to pay a heavy fine, either in money or mice. They would have told him that he ought to respect the follies5 of the people, since he was not strong enough to correct them.
The venerable chief justice should have spoken to him in this manner: “Every country has its legal impertinences, and its offences of time and place. If in your Rome, which has become the sovereign of Europe, Africa, and Asia Minor6, you were to kill a sacred fowl7, at the precise time that you give it grain in order to ascertain8 the just will of the gods, you would be severely9 punished. We believe that you have only killed our cat accidentally. The court admonishes10 you. Go in peace, and be more circumspect11 in future.”
It seems a very indifferent thing to have a statue in our hall; but if, when Octavius, surnamed Augustus, was absolute master, a Roman had placed in his house the statue of Brutus, he would have been punished as seditious. If a citizen, under a reigning12 emperor, had the statue of the competitor to the empire, it is said that it was accounted a crime of high treason.
An Englishman, having nothing to do, went to Rome, where he met Prince Charles Edward at the house of a cardinal13. Pleased at the incident, on his return he drank in a tavern14 to the health of Prince Charles Edward, and was immediately accused of high treason. But whom did he highly betray in wishing the prince well? If he had conspired15 to place him on the throne, then he would have been guilty towards the nation; but I do not see that the most rigid16 justice of parliament could require more from him than to drink four cups to the health of the house of Hanover, supposing he had drunk two to the house of Stuart.
Of Crimes of Time and Place, which Ought to Be Concealed17.
It is well known how much our Lady of Loretto ought to be respected in the March of Ancona. Three young people happened to be joking on the house of our lady, which has travelled through the air to Dalmatia; which has two or three times changed its situation, and has only found itself comfortable at Loretto. Our three scatterbrains sang a song at supper, formerly18 made by a Huguenot, in ridicule19 of the translation of the santa casa of Jerusalem to the end of the Adriatic Gulf20. A fanatic21, having heard by chance what passed at their supper, made strict inquiries22, sought witnesses, and engaged a magistrate23 to issue a summons. This proceeding24 alarmed all consciences. Every one trembled in speaking of it. Chambermaids, vergers, innkeepers, lackeys25, servants, all heard what was never said, and saw what was never done: there was an uproar26, a horrible scandal throughout the whole March of Ancona. It was said, half a league from Loretto, that these youths had killed our lady; and a league farther, that they had thrown the santa casa into the sea. In short, they were condemned. The sentence was, that their hands should be cut off, and their tongues be torn out; after which they were to be put to the torture, to learn — at least by signs — how many couplets there were in the song. Finally, they were to be burnt to death by a slow fire.
An advocate of Milan, who happened to be at Loretto at this time, asked the principal judge to what he would have condemned these boys if they had violated their mother, and afterwards killed and eaten her? “Oh!” replied the judge, “there is a great deal of difference; to assassinate27 and devour28 their father and mother is only a crime against men.” “Have you an express law,” said the Milanese, “which obliges you to put young people scarcely out of their nurseries to such a horrible death, for having indiscreetly made game of the santa casa, which is contemptuously laughed at all over the world, except in the March of Ancona?” “No,” said the judge, “the wisdom of our jurisprudence leaves all to our discretion29.” “Very well, you ought to have discretion enough to remember that one of these children is the grandson of a general who has shed his blood for his country, and the nephew of an amiable30 and respectable abbess; the youth and his companions are giddy boys, who deserve paternal31 correction. You tear citizens from the state, who might one day serve it; you imbrue yourself in innocent blood, and are more cruel than cannibals. You will render yourselves execrable to posterity32. What motive33 has been powerful enough, thus to extinguish reason, justice, and humanity in your minds, and to change you into ferocious34 beasts?” The unhappy judge at last replied: “We have been quarrelling with the clergy35 of Ancona; they accuse us of being too zealous36 for the liberties of the Lombard Church, and consequently of having no religion.” “I understand, then,” said the Milanese, “that you have made yourselves assassins to appear Christians37.” At these words the judge fell to the ground, as if struck by a thunderbolt; and his brother judges having been since deprived of office, they cry out that injustice38 is done them. They forget what they have done, and perceive not that the hand of God is upon them.
For seven persons legally to amuse themselves by making an eighth perish on a public scaffold by blows from iron bars; take a secret and malignant39 pleasure in witnessing his torments40; speak of it afterwards at table with their wives and neighbors; for the executioners to perform this office gaily42, and joyously43 anticipate their reward; for the public to run to this spectacle as to a fair — all this requires that a crime merit this horrid44 punishment in the opinion of all well-governed nations, and, as we here treat of universal humanity, that it is necessary to the well-being45 of society. Above all, the actual perpetration should be demonstrated beyond contradiction. If against a hundred thousand probabilities that the accused be guilty there is a single one that he is innocent, that alone should balance all the rest.
Query46: Are Two Witnesses Enough to Condemn4 a Man to be Hanged?
It has been for a long time imagined, and the proverb assures us, that two witnesses are enough to hang a man, with a safe conscience. Another ambiguity47! The world, then, is to be governed by equivoques. It is said in St. Matthew that two or three witnesses will suffice to reconcile two divided friends; and after this text has criminal jurisprudence been regulated, so far as to decree that by divine law a citizen may be condemned to die on the uniform deposition48 of two witnesses who may be villains49? It has been already said that a crowd of according witnesses cannot prove an improbable thing when denied by the accused. What, then, must be done in such a case? Put off the judgment50 for a hundred years, like the Athenians!
We shall here relate a striking example of what passed under our eyes at Lyons. A woman suddenly missed her daughter; she ran everywhere in search of her in vain, and at length suspected a neighbor of having secreted51 the girl, and of having caused her violation52. Some weeks after some fishermen found a female drowned, and in a state of putrefaction53, in the Rhone at Condmeux. The woman of whom we have spoken immediately believed that it was her daughter. She was persuaded by the enemies of her neighbor that the latter had caused the deceased to be dishonored, strangled, and thrown into the Rhone. She made this accusation54 publicly, and the populace repeated it; persons were found who knew the minutest circumstances of the crime. The rumor55 ran through all the town, and all mouths cried out for vengeance56. There is nothing more common than this in a populace without judgment; but here follows the most prodigious57 part of the affair. This neighbor’s own son, a child of five years and a half old, accused his mother of having caused the unhappy girl who was found in the Rhone to be violated before his eyes, and to be held by five men, while the sixth committed the crime. He had heard the words which pronounced her violated; he painted her attitudes; he saw his mother and these villains strangle this unfortunate girl after the consummation of the act. He also saw his mother and the assassins throw her into a well, draw her out of it, wrap her up in a cloth, carry her about in triumph, dance round the corpse58, and, at last, throw her into the Rhone. The judges were obliged to put all the pretended accomplices59 deposed60 against in chains. The child is again heard, and still maintains, with the simplicity61 of his age, all that he had said of them and of his mother. How could it be imagined that this child had not spoken the pure truth? The crime was not probable, but it was still less so that a child of the age of five years and a half should thus calumniate62 his mother, and repeat with exactness all the circumstances of an abominable63 and unheard-of crime; if he had not been the eye-witness of it, and been overcome with the force of the truth, such things would not have been wrung64 from him.
Every one expected to feast his eyes on the torment41 of the accused; but what was the end of this strange criminal process? There was not a word of truth in the accusation. There was no girl violated, no young men assembled at the house of the accused, no murder, not the least transaction of the sort, nor the least noise. The child had been suborned; and by whom? Strange, but true, by two other children, who were the sons of the accused. He had been on the point of burning his mother to get some sweetmeats.
The heads of the accusation were clearly incompatible65. The sage66 and enlightened court of judicature, after having yielded to the public fury so far as to seek every possible testimony67 for and against the accused, fully68 and unanimously acquitted69 them. Formerly, perhaps, this innocent prisoner would have been broken on the wheel, or judicially70 burned, for the pleasure of supplying an execution — the tragedy of the mob.
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1
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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admonishes
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| n.劝告( admonish的名词复数 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责v.劝告( admonish的第三人称单数 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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circumspect
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| adj.慎重的，谨慎的 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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lackeys
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| n.听差( lackey的名词复数 )；男仆（通常穿制服）；卑躬屈膝的人；被待为奴仆的人 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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41
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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42
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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45
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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46
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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ambiguity
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| n.模棱两可；意义不明确 | |
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48
deposition
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| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
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49
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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50
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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51
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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52
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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putrefaction
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| n.腐坏，腐败 | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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calumniate
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| v.诬蔑，中伤 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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